$100 Ideas: Go-Anywhere Compressor

After years of hiring someone to repair pivots, Donald Schmidt Donald of
Schuyler, Neb., decided he could do it himself. After a three-day and $180 investment, he made an air compressor that can go anywhere in the field for pivot repairs. Schmidt owns the Ah-ha Ranch and says he’s semi-retired—he rents his farmland and works as a farm manager.

"With a PTO shaft from a junked feed wagon, a used air compressor and scrap iron, I made an air compressor that attaches to any tractor’s three-point hitch. I specifically use the air compressor to fill tires on center pivots. In building my mobile compressor, I sized two pulleys to power the compressor and also included a relief valve. There is a V-shaped panel that fits over the PTO shaft for safety."

Preventive Measure

To keep planter wires and connections from breaking, I mounted a wire holder to the rear of the tractor.

I cut off a 1" section of 4"-diameter pipe and wrapped it with a piece of hose so it wouldn’t rub against the wires. Then I bolted it to a 16" piece of tubing, which is connected to the tractor.

Joseph Glanzer
Doland, S.D.

Lefty Loosey, Righty Tighty

During harvest, I keep the combine moving and my wife unloads wagons. It’s a challenge for her to open and close the stubborn wagon doors, so to make it easier I increased the leverage of the lift wheel. I cut a piece of pipe so it extends 6" past the standard wheel on each side and attached it with self-tapping screws. Finally, I used a grinder to round off the ends of the pipe so there aren’t any sharp edges.